We are almost there and (coincidentally) almost ready. We have been trying to get the shop prepped and have been handling the phone calls precipitated by the ads at the same time. It is distracting to do both. We did about $4500 in sales today shipping skis around the country. That's great. We also got behind in our work. Not so great. Oh well, another long day tomorrow!
I have been like the conductor. My prep work is done so I simply oversee the big picture stuff and let people do their jobs. Mackey (finally) finished the gondola display. Martin has put up most of the sale signage. John is always thinking about improving the shop. He just found a 36 drawer cabinet (that took one half day to retrieve 2 days before the sale). He has also been working on new boot fitting forms and getting the boot department all set up. Jennifer has made all the computer generated sale signage and helped in "all the little ways". She will go to the store for more scotch tape, she will get lunch, and she is willing to come to work 3 hours early in the Miata with the top down. That's my girl! Gary, Becky, and Erle all worked Tuesday. They will be back tomorrow. Tuesday was an "all hands on deck" day and tomorrow will be too. We do what it takes. We will have 7-8 employees working tomorrow to be ready. We WILLbe ready for your visit.
Boots are always interesting when we have a sale. We will have tremendous pressure on our boot department this weekend. There will be 6 benches set up and it will likely not be enough. Out come the folding chairs. The first boot fit of the season and the 6th boot fit of the season will happen the same day for many of us. New shapes are always tough, and so we will concentrate on selling the older stock (which are also SUPER deals) first. We have about 700 boots in stock so we should have something for everybody. The question is how many customers can we handle in the boot department in one day? We shall see...
In the end, our prices are awesome and we don't have a bad ski or boot in the shop. The people will come. The deals can't be beat. Hopefully people will see the values we are offering and make a purchase. The economy is the wild card. Lot's of people will buy skis or boots that that they will live with for 20 years. Others will but skis that they will replace next year- just because. Some will choose to wait as they are worried about the economy. Others will say "what the heck, let's buy 'em!" Either way, I hope we make Lot's of people happy this weekend with our sale. More importantly, we should convince any new customers that this is the place to shop long term.
Overall the store looks pretty ready right now. Everything is about ready for the onslaught!Helmets at 20% off should do great. Clothing at 50% off is always a winner! Poles at a great price- why not? Everything is marked down to "why not" prices so we expect a huge success. Why not have a party on your anniversary? No reason not to! Come on down and join the fun! Bring your checkbook!
Trust me- we will be ready.
It's not just us by the way. The sales reps are also all jacked up! They have been waiting like us and now it is starting to happen. Reviews of the 09/10 skis are hitting. The preseason sales events are happening. Winter is around the corner. They will be getting their first real taste of the 09/10 season this weekend when they work our sale. Also the news stand magazines have their ski test results this month. The skis we chose have been ranked highly. Not that we pay too much attention to the mag reviews... we don't (because we think they generally stink), but they do influence buying patterns, so we at least read them. The reps will be telling us what we did right and did wrong- like they knew all along. No matter, we stock what we believe in. Good reviews or not, the reps will be at the sale. You can discuss the merits of their skis with them personally! All in all it is a great chance to save some dough and have a great time.
That being said, Blizzard is our "new" brand and they kicked butt in the reviews. Elan also did great. Stockli as usual was pretty much absent. I wish they would send their skis to the magazines for testing! Head was less than stellar, but they have not had a "new" ski this year that is we thought was awesome, so that is not unexpected. Head has been mainly trying to figure out what graphics to use on their already great skis. Line is our "cult" brand and we are pleased that they tested well. Fischer got their usual great reviews with the caveat of "nobody takes this ski seriously but it kicks butt!" being a common thread. We will sell the snot out of Fischers this year and EVERYONE will love them.
I truly believe that we have something for everybody that is ideal for their needs. That makes me feel good. Tired. Done for the day. But good. Off to bed...
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